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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24745882">Qualification</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenni3penny/pseuds/jenni3penny'>jenni3penny</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>NCIS</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:40:03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,081</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24745882</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/jenni3penny/pseuds/jenni3penny</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“She should have known better than to taunt the sniper out of him.”</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Jethro Gibbs/Jacqueline "Jack" Sloane</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>141</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Qualification</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Wait," she hummed out, voice quiet as she licked along her lips, tasting coffee and lipstick while the video played on. "Wait, listen."</p>
<p>Gibbs turned his attention back toward her, his own coffee cradled in his hand as he watched her stall and listen to the surveillance video that Tim had been watching. They had barely made it to the MCRT desks before she had jerked still, leaning back on her heels at the volleyed sound of gunfire.</p>
<p>"<em>That</em>,” she said and nodded, her empty hand reaching out to catch Gibbs’ jacket lapel and rhythmically double tug as each of the gunshots gave a rapid repeat, all round echoes and loud throughout their section of the office. Her hand tightened as another round of gunshots played out on the video. “<em>Gibbs</em>. You hear it?"</p>
<p>He nodded agreement though he didn’t look up, squinting as he focused on nothing besides listening to the audio. "Not an M16."</p>
<p>"No," Jack agreed with a quick shake of the head, feeling Ellie’s eyes on them as the younger woman stepped around her own desk and closer. The other agent’s attention made her self conscious and she slid her fingers from his jacket, both hands curling her cup instead. "No, it's not... Kalashnikov?"</p>
<p>"Maybe," he allowed with a terse nod, his whole body swaying a little farther forward. His shoulder pressed on her, pinning her into the front of McGee’s desk in a way that drew Ellie’s already hawkish attention from behind him. "Again."</p>
<p>"Tim, play it again?" She asked softly, fingertips tapping a couple times along the top of his computer screen.</p>
<p>"Which - "</p>
<p>"The gunfire. Loop it, volume up,” she explained, leaning over the top of his monitor as he nodded and did as asked. The gunshots stacked up on top of each other in an awkwardly macabre melody that repeated itself. She could hear the difference, didn’t even really need to focus all that much to know that it wasn’t the sound of an M16, that it was just different enough. She didn’t need to see the video but all six feet of Gibbs pressing in on her was creating a flux of emotions that had her gut tightening and she wanted the deflection of pretending to listen again. She always equally loved and hated his proximity. It was a cruel tease and a comfort at once.</p>
<p>"You're right." Her stomach clenched and she felt her face go warm under the hushed adoration of his praise, his jaw tipped just enough to give her a sideways smile and sweet soft eyes. “Nice catch, Sloane.”</p>
<p>"Did she just blind ID a rifle by the sound of it?" Nick asked from beside his own desk, hands lifting toward them in praise. "Okay, that’s hot."</p>
<p>“Or terrifying,” Bishop added.</p>
<p>Jack felt herself exhale a laugh in answer to their comments before she could hide her pleasure, sending Torres a playful wink that had him laughing with her. She took another sip of her coffee and shrugged, looking back up into the way Gibbs was still half watching her, the sound of the gunfire abruptly cutting off. "They're getting Russian AKs from someone. That halves your haystack. I can give you a list of arms dealers that stock them just from memory."</p>
<p>"Certainly not military stockpile,” Tim added, leaning back in his chair.</p>
<p>She just shook her head. "Not <em>American</em> military anyhow. "</p>
<p>"Jack?"</p>
<p>She blinked slowly, sipping at her coffee and purposely giving him eyes over her cup as he grinned. "Yes?"</p>
<p>The grin that he gave her was mischievous and playful and she felt something give a sharp tug at her gut as he let her truly enjoy it publicly, in front of the entire team. "You're way more than just a pretty face, ya know?"</p>
<p>She felt a real flash of heat touch over her cheeks, the cup curled into her chest as he turned toward his own desk. "Well… a girl likes to hear it sometimes."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>"Torres is still singing your praises down there."</p>
<p>It was late, later than she usually stayed anyhow. Late enough that her stomach was telling her that she should have had dinner an hour or two before. Late enough that he looked understandably tired in her doorway. Tired, though, still alert.</p>
<p>“Well,” Jack just smiled at his comment, shifting on the couch so that she could stretch out her back as he moved farther into the room. "I know what buttons to push with you boys."</p>
<p>"He wasn't wrong," Gibbs admitted, though he wasn’t necessarily looking at her. Instead he seemed to focus lower, studying the paperwork she had tossed out over the coffee table. One of the other teams had requested she profile a couple of their suspects on a case that was time sensitive. She had maybe another hour or so of work ahead of her. "That was… <em>attractive</em>.”</p>
<p>“Why, thank you.” Her eyes thinned as she smiled, unable to control how much the act flushed her cheeks, no hiding how much the words had pleased her. She realized as soon as she looked up entirely that her smile had triggered a similar flush on him, his eyes still avoiding hers. “You should see your face right now, Gibbs.”</p>
<p>“When are your range evals up?” he finally asked, looking up and meeting her brown eyes with his own. Once he fully met her smile she felt the confidence rise up him, his shoulders loosening as his back straightened, hands at his side, tension gone.</p>
<p>Jack hummed as she thought on it, leaning her elbows against the top of her desk as she exhaled. “Not for two months.”</p>
<p>“I have to go this weekend,” he offered, as though the information spoke for him. With her it did, really, she knew what he was implying. Especially when his eyes never left hers, their blue going darker, gaining gray. “Thought you might need to qualify?”</p>
<p>Her answering smile was silent but wide and said more than she probably could have in that moment. Relief slipped over her slowly as his smile went just as broad, his pleasure enticing and calming at once. She breathed out through her nose while he watched her and she nodded just slightly to assure him. The small movement made him grin and before she could really appreciate how handsome it made him look he was headed for her office door.</p>
<p>“Is this a date, Gibbs? Because if it’s a date I want coffee too. Or something stronger.”</p>
<p>He tipped his head to the side, gave a quick shrug before tugging at the door. “We’ll see.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Thursday and Friday had both brought her coffee, one cup left on her desk each morning, no notes and no explanations - not that she needed either. The amount of sugar had been near perfect both days and she humored herself by imagining how hard he had cringed to the barista while ordering it for her.</p>
<p>Both mornings she had carried it down the stairs with her as she had checked in on their case. Thursday he’d already been in the field but Friday he’d watched her make her way down most of the stairs, half distracted as Ellie and Nick had bantered their theories back and forth in front of the plasma. She’d been seduced by the softness of his half self conscious smile and purposely hadn’t mentioned the coffee aloud. Instead she had waited until the two younger agents had tangled themselves into a lively debate over gun runners and she’d lifted her fingers, signing a ‘<em>thank you</em>’ outward from her chin, a mirror to his unconscious habit of doing the same.</p>
<p>Saturday brought a change to their plans that she had accepted softly, knowing he was buried by the same case. But she hadn’t been able to sit still, not when she knew how close they were to wrapping up the case, how close they had come to nailing a guy that had been on her own radar for nearly two decades.</p>
<p>“What’re you doin’ here?”</p>
<p>His surprise was gentler than expected and she enjoyed the interested way he looked her over as she handed him a fresh cup of coffee. His appreciation gentled his features as he took in her casual clothing and she watched him shut his eyes as he swallowed. A long swallow was followed by a barely coherent groan and Jack just raised an eyebrow, tipping her head to watch him.</p>
<p>“I figured I’d see if I could help. Or get some paperwork done. I just- ”</p>
<p>“If you gimme half an hour we can still get some time in,” he nodded, sending a quick glance to his watch as she leaned in closer, studying how tired his eyes looked. “I know the range guy.”</p>
<p>She just smirked when he caught her staring, shrugged into it as he took another swallow of coffee. The scent of it bloomed up between them as they watched each other. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”</p>
<p>“Hey, Jack.”</p>
<p>“Hey, sweetie, how’d it go?” she asked as Ellie came around the corner of McGee’s desk, a file dropped onto her own desk as she turned toward the both of them.</p>
<p>Her eyes were bright, excited as she nodded and tucked her hands into her sleeves. “Nick just broke him, I think. It took all morning but he tripped him up. It was so subtle too, Gibbs. You shoulda seen it. Even his lawyer couldn’t save him when he lost his cool.”</p>
<p>“I saw it,” he corrected her, letting her know that he had obviously been observing the interrogation through the mirror. Gibbs lifted a hand, motioning between her desk and Nick’s. “You two wanna finish this up?”</p>
<p>“Um, sure, yeah. You guys have plans?”</p>
<p>The suggestive way Ellie had said it wasn’t lost on either of them but Jack smiled into it regardless. She turned Gibbs that same smile and just blinked, letting him drop his glance from her eyes to her lips and then toward the younger woman, the entire exchange wordless. He took a slow and unresponsive drink of his coffee as Bishop squinted at him.</p>
<p>“Yup, we’re outta here,” Jack finally answered with humor, her hand slapping fully but lightly at Gibbs’ chest. “Someone has to pass his range test this weekend.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p>The subtle scent of her had filled the truck by the time they had gotten outside the gate and he took another quick glance over her as they waited at a stoplight. She had her phone out, using her thumbs to rapidly answer something, attention trapped forward. Most of her hair was loosely tied back and he watched her angle her head, using the shoulder of her flannel to brush at an itch on her jaw. Her head lifted after a moment, eyes rising as he watched her hand come up to brush a stray strand of blonde away.</p>
<p>“Not gonna get any greener, hon.”</p>
<p>He blinked and looked up sharply, checking traffic before taking his foot off the brake and continuing driving. He felt her laugh more than he heard it and in his peripheral he saw her set her phone down into her lap, a sigh coming out of her slowly. Her attention was suddenly squarely on him and he could feel her laughter, her amusement. Her good nature took up the entire inside of the truck and made him laugh with her.</p>
<p>“I like it when you look at me, Gibbs,” she whispered, her left hand rising so that her fingertips could brush his temple, curving around his earlobe. “That’s how I know you’re paying attention.”</p>
<p>He felt her give his ear a light and teasing tug as he smirked. “I’m always paying attention, Jack.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She had subconsciously known that he’d embarrass her on the range. Shooting wasn’t poker and his skill outgunned her usual saucy mix of habitual practice and a bit of luck. She was a good shot, time after time, but he was a goddamn Ace.</p>
<p>She should have known better than to taunt the sniper out of him.</p>
<p>“God, you’re good,” she hummed out as she pushed her safety glasses up into her hair, head tipped slightly and her eyes on his near perfectly grouped target. She had tucked up close to his right elbow to watch, her fingertips teasing at him to playfully try and distract his attention. It had utterly failed as a diversion but she had stubbornly kept her fingertips on the edge of his belt, enjoying the warmth of having her hand tucked up under his jacket. The heat coming off him was suddenly amplified by his grin, all of it heady and teasing before he even turned his impish blue eyes away from his target and onto her.</p>
<p>“You should probably wait before passing judgment,” he offered as he cleared the 9mm Sig and set it down. His glasses came off entirely, tossed onto the wooden shelf that swung in front of them. “I aim for excellence.”</p>
<p>Jack groaned into laughter at the pun, his shit-eating grin the last thing she saw as she dropped her face forward into his jacket sleeve, rubbing her cheek on his shoulder and her hand up his lower back. His body shot straight and she almost retreated, at least until his back pressed into her hand just slightly and she was enveloped by the scent of clean laundry. His head turned at the same time, jaw rubbing along her right temple, his stubble raspy on her skin.</p>
<p>“It’s your turn.” The whisper had reflexively arched her spine, putting her chest flush to his arm as he had turned his mouth closer and kissed her hairline. “Show me up, Sloane.”</p>
<p>There was absolutely no going back if she let it continue.</p>
<p>She didn’t <em>wanna</em> go back. This was the direction they had been headed in for days (months, maybe?). “No, I like watching you.”</p>
<p>His laugh was silent but breathy and mostly through his nose, his right hand rising to catch the side of her face as she started to lift her head to look at him. His touch led her, lifted her mouth to his with barely any effort. His fingertips were pressed back along her cheek while he kissed her, three pistols laid out before them and nobody else at the range. She was weak in both resistance and resolve and he knew it. His movements were soft, slow, easily something she could have deflected had she wanted to brush him off. He’d played his hand perfectly, though, more seductively than she had expected. He hadn’t even needed to bluff her into it.</p>
<p>“Naw, I wanna watch,” he answered, somehow keeping his voice subtle rather than letting it go leering. He had broken the kiss before it had even really gotten started and for a confused moment she watched him, just to be sure he wasn’t pushing her away. “Come on.”</p>
<p>His movements said otherwise, right hand reaching back to grab at her fingers and tug her forward. Before she could even really open her mouth to argue she was in front of him and the toe of his shoe was bouncing against her right instep, tapping her boots farther apart. Jack grinned at his impatience and felt her whole body arch as his hands caught her hips and jerked her back into him.</p>
<p>“Shoulders back,” he admonished, tone more playful than chastising. “Feet even with - ”</p>
<p>“I <em>know</em>,” she shot back, her elbow aiming for his stomach. He caught her up before she could really make contact, though, hands gripping her arms still as he tucked his jaw against her shoulder. Her hair was drawn back loosely and every time his stubble scraped the skin of her neck her whole body responded, thighs getting tight, back arching.</p>
<p>She swallowed the urge to mess with him, though, instead just leaning into the brush of his hands down her arms and the rise of his chest against her back. Jack gave a low sigh of a sound, letting it come from deep in her throat as he brushed his lips against her ear. Both his hands went loose at her wrists and rose back up her forearms while he cradled her back.</p>
<p>Full palms rounded her shoulders, squeezing lightly while she pulled the safety glasses back down. "The Beretta."</p>
<p>Jack frowned. "But - "</p>
<p>"Just try it," he encouraged, the whisper of his voice tracing down the back of her neck and making her skin tighten up. "Humor me, Sloane."</p>
<p>Her eyes shut as she put her hands down flat, blindly searching out the Beretta M9 with her right hand. She smiled as he nodded against her shoulder, setting his jaw against her as his palms sloped back down her arms slowly. She gave in to his persistence, opening her eyes and carrying on as she tried to ignore how good it felt to have him flush up the whole back of her and stroking full palms over her body. She adored his height and the breadth of his chest, his shoulders, the strength that still existed in him despite his age slightly slowing him.</p>
<p>Jack checked the weapon and magazine, thumbed off the safety while he teased his lips along her shell of her ear and she did her absolute best not to get too distracted by his playfulness, knowing that once he really doubled down she’d be all too weak to resist him. She half wanted to hit her target first, half wanted to turn around and put her mouth on his.</p>
<p>His hands on her hips encouraged her to stay where she was, though, to continue. His fingers stretched up her ribs as she lifted the handgun and she felt the groan he laid along her throat more than she heard it. The sound of it was merely a vibration against her skin as she took aim and squeezed, landing a respectable grouping in the target, well centered and one after another. It wasn’t as tight a formation as his had been but she didn’t care anymore, not as one of his hands slid under the flannel and the tank she was wearing under it, fingers teasing her stomach as he stepped in tighter against her back. His feet braced outside of hers, the whole of him closing and clasping around her as the last echoes of gunshots bounded outward across the open air range.</p>
<p>“Safety,” he hummed against the side of her head as his other hand did the length of her arm, reaching for the 9mm. She didn’t answer so much as use her thumb to set the safety, head turning into the firm pressure of his jaw as he took the Beretta.</p>
<p>Jack put her lips against his cheek, kissing softly along evening stubble. It felt a little like she was pressing her luck. But then… <em>he</em> was the one with a hand up her shirt and not the other way around. “Not impressed, Gunny?”</p>
<p>He smiled under the blatant tease in her voice and the press of her lips, her hummed sound of questioning drawing his laughter up his throat as the firearm got set down. His right hand spread flat to her stomach, pulling her tighter back into him while the other caught her chin up. She felt his fingertips slip past the button on her jeans, pressing under it suggestively while he lifted her head to get her to look at him.</p>
<p>“M’never not impressed by you, Sloane.”</p>
<p>His left hand lifted the safety glasses up and into her hair, the slight distraction giving her the moment she needed to grab his other hand still and turn in his arms. She gave up any patience she may have still been holding onto, arms curling up over his shoulders as she went up on the toes of her boots and laid her mouth on his.</p>
<p>There was no caution in the kiss this time, no reservation. She lifted one hand to skiff up the back of his head and enjoy the soft velvet of short cut hair while she arched upward. She gave her weight and balance to him, trusted in his hands as he wrapped around her in answer, one of his hands grabbing against the shelf. Jack felt him nudge hard against her hips and she leaned with his movement, moaning as he pressed her against the shelf and drove his tongue into her mouth at once. Everything on the shelf rattled under his insistence and her slight imbalance, bringing a laugh up her throat as his hands both caught at her hips. Her tongue stroked his and the groan he gave her was something she had never heard from him, purely physical and reflexive. It was the most sexual sound he had given her and she melted under the sincerity of it.</p>
<p>She nipped his bottom lip with her teeth as he started to break the kiss, jaw lifting. One of her hands caught at his cheek and kept him from backing off, her thumb tracing his lower lip. “<em>Don’t</em> change your mind, Gibbs.”</p>
<p>The sudden paused intensity of the way he looked at her in response flushed her cheeks pink and hot. She went still under him, watching his face as he studied her intently, near holding her breath as his eyes thinned and his jaw hardened and flexed. She could see him replay what she had said before he blinked and just barely shook his head. Relief breathed out of her lungs as he put his forehead forward against hers, eyes shut. The hand that was under her shirt shifted, teasing against the button on her jeans again, putting it between his fingers and thumb before tugging her in closer. His other palm was braced flat to her lower back, fingers stretched out between her and the shelf behind her. She heard him inhale slowly through his nose, the exhale nearly as slow and patient. She couldn’t help but grin as he tried to slow and still them both, pressing his forehead against hers.</p>
<p>His hand came out from under fabric, pulling the tank taut instead. The movement was matched by his nose nudging hers before he ducked his mouth up under her jaw, lips teasing lower toward her throat. “I seem like a guy who retreats when he’s already winning?”</p>
<p>“No,” she allowed, her head dropping back and to her left, making space for him as she caught the lapels of his jacket, “but you do seem like the guy who was afraid to let me outshoot him with his own Sig.”</p>
<p>His teeth answered the accusation, marking her red before he sent his tongue soothing after them. “That what you think?”</p>
<p>Thinking was absolutely the last thing on her mind as she slipped her hands into his jacket and tugged at his shirt. The hand he’d had on fabric had lifted teasing fingertips up between her breasts so that he could push her chin up, baring more of her throat to scruffy stubble and languid kisses. It was a promise of more, a silent agreement that they had made days before.</p>
<p>She wasn’t ending the day until he’d made his way all the way down her and back up again and the groan he laid against her throat sounded proof enough that he was pretty much in agreement.</p>
<p>She silently congratulated herself on having called out the difference between an M16 and an AK47 days before - she had known it would encourage him. She hadn’t known it would have him laying a mark on her throat that would be impossible to cover with makeup. Jack gave another tug at his shirt, turning her head slightly to bring him back to kissing her, a laugh breaking them apart.</p>
<p>“Making me use the Beretta?” She smirked, feeling how heavy her eyelids were even as she met blue with brown. “You scared, Gibbs?”</p>
<p>“Of you?” he demanded, head rising slightly higher before he nodded a couple times. His smile went sweet and soft, eyes bright. “<em>Terrified</em>.”</p>
<p>“That because I’m also the only person here who’s qualified to sign off on your range test?”</p>
<p>His grin shot wide and wild. “We should probably go again, then. I wouldn’t wanna be accused of cheating.”</p>
<p>“This time keep your hands to yourself, Soldier,” she taunted against his jaw, her own squeal of laughter swallowing the words as he mercilessly found the ticklish spots along her ribs.</p>
<p>Suddenly she adored Saturdays. And the range.</p>
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